Pothole Filler Imperial Stout | Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Company

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Notes / Commercial Description:
This beer is a strong, inky dark ale, brewed with 6 malts and blackstrap molasses. It is a thick beer, with an intense roasted barley flavour, with notes of chocolate and licorice.

More User Reviews:

Massive 1L swingtop from the Conestoga LCBO, enjoyed over a couple of evenings (a litre of imperial stout is a bit too much for this guy in one night).

Poured into my Duvel tulip. Black as pitch (go figure), with about a half inch of dark tan head that recedes into a thick ring. Some lacing. Your classic RIS.

Nose is rich and bitter, with a bit of sweetness lingering in the back. But yes, all the usual suspects are here: bitter coffee, roasted malt, caramel, licorice and hops. Very nice.

If you like your RIS's dry and generously hopped, this one is definitely for you. Quite bitter, puckery hop finish, with roasted coffee, caramel and licorice as well. Well crafted. Medium-thick, mild carbonation, silky.

Solid RIS, and I enjoyed the near growler-sized bottle on both evenings. Worth seeking out while its here.

Pours jet black with a thick brown head that leaves some lacing. Aroma has coffee, chocolate, and a little smoke and licorice. Flavor of bittersweet chocolate, coffee, molasses, and ash. Medium bodied and smooth, and has a lingering slightly burnt aftertaste. Just a little alcohol is noticable. Overall, it's not in the top tier of Imperial Stouts, but it's still a very solid beer. I had no trouble finishing the 1L bottle!

1 liter swing-top bottle, par for the course for this brewery (and a good thing, usually).

This beer pours a solid black, with broad southern cola highlights, and three fingers of foamy, creamy weak chocolate milk head, which leaves an attractive random webbed pattern of lace around the glass in its leisurely wake.

The bubbles are nicely restrained, the body a solid medium weight, and just a bit prickly from hop and/or booze (who knows at this point) but overall things wind up pretty damned smooth. It finishes a mite bit drier than expected, the hops and bitter side of the chocolate aiding and abetting, but not without a still hefty nod to their existential better half.

One of the hoppier examples of an RIS I have thus far encountered, which is no bad thing, as the chocolatey malt counterpoint is more than equal to the task. Big, brash, and bold, yet somehow easy to drink. Approach with due care and attention, as you would the titular road conditions.

Bottle two half pints at Bar Volo Howe Sound takeover. Enjoyed it knowing is somewhere between a Russian IS and an oatmeal stout. Not up to the RIS standard. Significant acid but under control. Dark as night, with only a whisp of head. Above average mouthtfeel. Appropriate understated carbonation. Decent drinkability, it is a sipper.

Awesome package (got that 1 L swing top sensuality going), great dark stout look, but I honestly wanted more. The black strap molasses that pretty much forced me to buy it was either missing or showed up entirely as a bitter flavor. I was looking for more of that woodsy, burnt sugary taste of molasses. Alas, great idea, but I think this guy needs more.

A- This one pours a very dark brown....almost black color and seems to have good clarity all things considered. The head is lovely with a solid two finger thick foam layer covering the liquid and it is nice and dense....plenty of wee tight bubbles that maintain their composure and slowly settle down into a caramel colored thick layer. Lacing also appears to look good, as there is a good number of small sticky protein pockets clinging to the side of my glass!

S- This has an interesting smell.....definitely sweeter than a normal Imperial Stout. Dark chocolate, coffee and burnt woody aromas give way to the molasses used in this, which brings a clever baked molasses cookie richness, as well as cashew/almond hints....like a burnt almond chocolate bar. The finish seems to linger, again being a mix of sweet and dry....caramel and/or dried fruits, yet Earth tones.

T- This is good! It reminds me somewhat of a Milk Stout in terms of sweetness, but it has a yeasty/creamy character throughout the taste. Dark chocolate, creamy almond bark, mocha and slightly astringent blackstrap molasses sweetness are the main flavors, along with background notes of char, Earth, bittering cocoa, nuttiness, heavily toasted malts, vanilla bean, cooked brown sugar, and a sweet, turning into a quick bitter hop finish....this lingers on for a minute before another sip is in order!

M/O- Medium-full bodied, I feel like there is something to chew on here! The carbonation is creamy smooth and as the appearance suggested, bubbles are in fact wee tight and really allow the flavors to come through on the palate! The alcohol is well hidden and the velvety feel makes this a highly drinkable Stout! I would be happy to enjoy this on any given night, and it really calms down the stomach after a big meal! Full marks and I recommend it! I will seek out again!

A- three finger dark mocha head with massive retention, near black body, thick lacing and big bubbles, so far so good.

S-herbal and floral hops, nutty malt, some tobacco

T - nice balanced hops up front with chocolate and some coffee coming through in the finish. Booze is well hidden (could be that I seem to be drinking only imperial stouts and IPAS lately and I have become immune to it).

M-medium bodied very smooth with plenty of carbonation for the style, refreshing bitterness that lingers, sweet flavours are balanced and not overdone.

An excellent imperial stout that is worth the $11 I paid for it (not bad given it has as much booze as a 12 pack of coors) - and for you homebrewers out there it comes in a handy reuseable 1L flip top bottle. Not one thing sticks out to me yet there is nothing I would add to it either - simply a great brew,

Creamy and viscous body, mellow bitterness in the aftertaste. Not especially sweet, balanced elements of roast, dark fruit, cocoa. Reminds me a little of Expedition stout. Pretty drinkable, best shared considering the serving size. The 9% abv is completely hidden, masked by the creamy chocolate and dark fruit flavors. Not bad and certainly worth trying, but for my money Expedition is still my go-to for a big stout.